The creature rose from the grey dust like a rotten log pushing out of the ground.
It was pale white and thick as an old tree trunk, covered in heavy folds of rubbery skin.
It had no eyes, no ears, and no horns.
There was only a wide, round mouth lined with rings of sharp, clear teeth that turned in slow, wet circles.
Ash rolled off its pale back in quiet streams.
It lifted itself high into the cold air, swaying gently from side to side.
The blunt tip of its head twitched, tasting the draft.
Kiran froze.
He didn’t dare take a breath.
His chest burned from holding the air in, and his left foot was still half-buried in the soft dust.
A drop of sweat ran slowly down the side of his face, itching like a bug, but he didn’t dare move an inch to wipe it away.
Beside him, Vaelgor was completely still.
The dragon had dropped flat against the ground, tucking his tail close to his flank.
But his torn shoulder was still warm.
Even though the blood had scabbed over, the wound was giving off heat in the freezing air like a warm radiator.
The pale worm tilted its head.
It didn’t turn toward Kiran.
It turned straight toward the heat coming off Vaelgor’s shoulder.
A small blue square blinked into Kiran’s view, dim and steady.
[JYOTI]
Target: Pale Ash Worm.
It has no eyes.
It hunts by feeling vibrations in the ground and finding heat.
Weakness: Soft skin behind the third ring.
Advice: Do not scream.
It hears very well.
I’m not screaming, Kiran thought, his heart hammering against his ribs.
How do we kill it?
[JYOTI]
You do not.
One bite will cut you in half.
The dragon can kill it, but a loud fight will make noise.
Noise brings hunters from the sky.
The worm lowered its head until its spinning teeth were hovering just above the grey dust.
It started crawling forward.
It had no legs; short, stiff bristles under its belly dragged its heavy body through the ash with a soft, scraping sound.
Scrape.
Rustle.
Scrape.
It was heading straight for Vaelgor’s torn wing.
Vaelgor’s good eye slid toward Kiran.
The golden slit was tight with tension.
The dragon didn’t move his neck, but his jaw parted slightly, showing the tips of his grey teeth.
He was getting ready to strike, even if the strain tore his wing open all over again.
If Vaelgor roared, every patrol for miles would hear it bounce off the canyon walls. This story is hosted at g.com.
Kiran’s mind spun.
Vibrations.
It feels the ground.
He looked down.
Right beside his hand, buried in the soft dust, was a heavy chunk of dragon bone broken off from the huge skeleton above them.
It was about the size of a brick, dark grey and solid as rock.
Twenty yards away to the right, a giant rib arched out of the ash, standing tall and thick like a pillar of solid stone.
If he threw the bone at the worm, the beast might turn and snap him in half.
But if he made a noise somewhere else…
Kiran moved his hand through the dust, inch by slow inch.
He didn’t lift his arm.
He slid his fingers through the ash until they wrapped around the cold, heavy bone.
The worm was only ten feet away from Vaelgor now.
Its round mouth opened wide, the rings of teeth spinning faster, hissing like wet grit.
Kiran gripped the bone tight.
He didn’t swing his shoulder.
He flicked his wrist and forearm, tossing the heavy piece of bone low across the dust.
The bone flew through the air and struck the giant rib arch twenty yards away.
CLANG.
The sound was sharp and loud, ringing through the quiet canyon like an iron hammer hitting a post.
The worm stopped dead.
Its head snapped toward the noise, its long body coiling tight like a spring.
Snap!
The pale beast launched itself across the dust, its spinning jaws slamming hard into the base of the giant bone arch, chewing into the old stone with a harsh, grinding screech.
Vaelgor didn’t hesitate.
The dragon didn’t roar.
He made no sound at all.
He pushed off the ground with his good front leg, lunging forward low and fast.
His heavy front claw came down hard right behind the worm’s round head, pinning the thrashing body flat against the dirt.
Before the beast could whip around, Vaelgor leaned down and bit hard into the back of its neck.
There was a dull, wet crunch.
The worm shuddered violently, slapping the dust into a grey cloud, and then stopped moving.
A puddle of thick, clear liquid spilled into the ash, smelling sour like spoiled vinegar.
Vaelgor held it pinned for three long seconds.
Once he was sure it was dead, he let the limp head drop into the dirt.
He turned his neck, looking back at Kiran with his single golden eye.
Kiran was sitting back on his heels, breathing hard, his hands shaking so much he had to press them against his knees.
“You threw a rock,” Vaelgor whispered.
His voice was just a low rumble in the dust.
“It was a bone,” Kiran croaked, rubbing his dry throat.
“And you told me not to make noise.”
Vaelgor stared at him for a long second.
Then he gave a quiet huff through his nose, blowing a small puff of dust across Kiran’s wrapped shoes.
“You didn’t run,” the dragon grunted.
“Most apes would have run the second the ground started moving.”
“If I ran, it would have felt my footsteps and eaten me,” Kiran said, pushing himself up onto his feet. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Besides, I don’t have anywhere to run.”
Vaelgor hooked the dead worm with one claw, dragged it into the deep shadow beneath the giant rib cage, and kicked loose ash over the puddle of sour fluid until the smell was covered up.
“Fear that keeps you quiet is better than courage that gets you killed,” Vaelgor muttered, wiping a smear of worm slime off his jaw with the back of his front leg.
“Come on.
That smell will bring more of them once the sun goes down.”
Kiran took a slow, deep breath, trying to steady his pulse.
The air was still cold and heavy, but he remembered what Vaelgor had told him.
He pulled the thick air deep into his belly, holding it beneath his ribs for a few seconds before letting it out through his nose.
The air didn’t choke him this time.
That small, stubborn warmth inside his chest hummed again, sending heat into his tired legs and stopping the shake in his hands.
[JYOTI]
Iron Breath Cycle: Completed.
Progress: 0.3%
Heart rate back to normal.
Host action evaluated: Calm under pressure.
Acceptable.
Acceptable?
That’s all?
Kiran thought.
I just saved your scaly friend from getting bitten in the flank.
[JYOTI]
Staying alive is your reward.
Do not ask for medals in the dirt.
Kiran shook his head with a faint smile, jogging a couple of steps to keep pace with Vaelgor’s heavy, limping walk.
They walked for another four miles through the quiet ash.
The ancient bones got thicker, clustering together like the broken walls of an old town.
In some places, giant spears of black iron—three times longer than a lamppost—lay half-buried in the dust, their tips rusted red with age.
As the pale sun started sinking behind the high canyon walls, the wide basin began to narrow down.
The dark cliffs closed in on both sides until they blocked out most of the purple sky.
Ahead of them, the trail dropped steeply into a deep crack in the rock.
A thick, yellow fog was creeping up from the dark opening, clinging to the stones like wet smoke.
Vaelgor stopped right at the edge of the drop.
His bronze eye looked down into the yellow mist, his shoulders stiffening.
“What is that?” Kiran asked, leaning over the edge to look.
“The Upper Gorge,” Vaelgor said quietly.
“The bad mist starts here.
The King’s fliers won’t follow us down into this.
The air burns their eyes.”
“And what does it do to us?” Kiran asked, looking down at his bare arms and torn shirt.
Vaelgor looked at him out of the corner of his eye.
“If you keep breathing the way I showed you, it will just feel like your throat is burning,” the dragon said flatly.
“If you stop, your lungs will fill with water.”
The dragon took a step forward and walked down into the yellow fog.